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Reggie Smith, although a top player, was generally known as "the other Reggie" during his career. A player similar to Fred Lynn, Smith came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1966 at the age of 21. He became known for his decent power, his high batting averages, and his good on-base percentages. His range factors in the outfield were excellent, and while his stolen base percentage as a young player was bad, it improved to the point where he stole 15 bases in 19 attempts in 1972.

While Smith primarily played center field for the Red Sox, he was the Opening Day starting second baseman for the Sox for the team's memorable 1967 AL pennant winning season, eventually moving to the outfield to make way for Mike Andrews to play second base.

During his tenure with the Boston Red Sox, they were typically near the top of the league, going to the World Series in 1967. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1974, where he spent two seasons hitting over .300, with a good on-base percentage and decent power.

Starting slowly in 1976, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joe Ferguson and others, and began a very successful 5 1/2 years with the Dodgers. His 1977 season was the most remarkable, with a .307 batting average, 104 walks, and 32 home runs. He appeared in three World Series with the Dodgers, winning one in 1981. He suffered two serious injuries in 1980: he needed sixty stitches in his wrist after hitting a cooler during an argument with Derrel Thomas, then he seriously injured his throwing shoulder while playing right field, ending his season. Frank Jobe repaired the arm enough that Smith was able to play regularly at first base two years later and eventually return to the outfield. He was limited to 35 at bats in 1981 and made only two appearances on defense, both at first base.

While Reggie Smith is generally not remembered as one of the game's greats, his performance shows that he is underrated. He appeared seven times in the All-Star Game, was a Gold Glove winner, and finished fourth in the MVP voting a couple of times. He was a force in the league practically every year: first in doubles in 1968, second in batting average in 1969, sixth in batting average in 1970, first in total bases in 1971, seventh in slugging in 1972, second in slugging in 1973, third in slugging in 1974, a .300 hitter in 1975, first in OBP in 1977, second in slugging in 1978, a .322 batting average in 1980, and 18 home runs in a last partial season in 1982.

Reggie Smith was contacted by the Yomiuri Giants in 1982 but instead went to the San Francisco Giants when Yomiuri refused to disclose finances in detail. The next season Yomiuri offered Smith three cars and a million-dollar contract, more than doubling what San Francisco had been paying. They also allowed Smith to become the first player in Yomiuri history to have facial hair or a long hair-style (Reggie had an Afro at the time).

It was obvious from the get-go that Reggie's personality was too different from the Japanese norm. He got into arguments with coaches like Isao Shibata and criticized pitchers who would not offer him a pitch in the strike zone. In April of 1983, he injured his knee while sliding and was relegated to the bench for almost two months, earning him the media moniker "Million-Dollar Bench-warmer". While unable to play the field, Smith was used as a pinch-hitter. One game he was in the on-deck circle when the batter doubled. He told manager Motoshi Fujita to let someone else bat instead, as he would be pitched around. Fujita agreed but the media made it into a scandal and called for Smith's release. The argument was made that Smith was encouraging Americans to look down on Japan and was not taking Japanese culture, baseball or business seriously. Additionally, Smith was the target of many racial insults, especially from Hanshin Tigers fans.

While Smith hit well after he was healed, he also struck out a lot and became known as the "Giant Human Fan". He also started to criticize the umpires; like many other gaijin he felt that they employed a double standard, using a larger strike zone for foreign players. Once Reggie intentionally struck out to drive home his point, drawing more criticism for a lack of effort.

In August 1983, Smith donned his uniform backwards with the help of his teammates. He then ran backwards onto the field, stunning the assembled crowd and infuriating his coaches further. When he was ordered off the field and prevented from taking batting practice by Shibata, he came back to hit a 3-run homer that game.

Also that month he became the target of inside pitching by the Hiroshima Carp. Manabu Kitabeppu started a brawl with back-to-back high-and-inside pitches to Smith, for which Reggie got all the blame. Before one game Smith (through an interpreter) addressed the Carp bench, telling them not to throw any more beanballs or insult him. They did not challenge Reggie, who hit a crucial 3-run homer in a win that helped the Giants pull away from Hiroshima in the pennant race. Legendary Giants owner Matsutaro Shoriki said that Yomiuri would not have won the pennant without Smith and said that a million dollars was a low price for what Reggie had contributed on the field.

Overall Reggie hit .285/.409/.627 with 28 long balls in just 263 AB. He had fanned 61 times and drew 51 walks, for a Three True Outcomes Percentage of 43.3%. He would have led the league in slugging had he gotten enough plate-appearances to qualify for that title.

At age 39, Smith's abilities declined rapidly. He hit .255/.342/.511 in 1984 with 66 K and 17 HR in 231 AB. He injured his wrist, shoulder and knee that season, following a slew of injuries in the US. He also knocked out one Hanshin fan who had been vocal in his racist insults. The next day a gang of Tigers fans attacked Reggie and his son, Reggie Smith Jr. He was charged with and cleared of assault for this latter incident.

While Smith was very critical of Japanese baseball (calling it 50 years behind the times and forced labor), he incorporated some of Sadaharu Oh's methods into his coaching with the Los Angeles Dodgers after his retirement. He became close friends with Yomiuri star Tatsunori Hara and thought very highly of Oh.